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There Has Been a Culture Change in the New Mike Mularkey Era

April 5th, 2012 at 3:00 AM By Michael Hall

There seems to be alot of buzz going on down at Everbank Field. One cannot really pin it down to one particular thing. In many interviews, players and coaches talk about a buzz or a type of culture change down at the facility for the JacksonvilleJaguars. The source of this buzz? It seems to come from the top. Shad Khan has made it known that he is "All In" in making the Jaguars franchise a successful one. He then helped to hire Mike Mularkey, who had a reputation for developing young QBs. Mularkey then brought in an extraordinary staff of coaches that range in proficiency from legends, like Jerry Sullivan and Sylvester Croom to former Jaguar players like Marlon McCree and Tom Myslinski. Most importantly, retained the outstanding coaches on the staff such as defensive coordinator Mel Tucker and linebackers coach Mark Duffner.

The sad part is that this surge in morale had to come at the cost of a year like 2011. Jack Del Rio was clearly a dead coach walking and it reflected on the organization. We should've known something was wrong when Johnny Cox and Mike Shepard were brought in to coach positions that they never had experience coaching before. The most damning evidence of Del Rio being on his last legs with the team was the statement of Jaguars Safety Dwight Lowery, who was traded to the team the week before the season started. According to Tania Ganguli of the Florida Times-Union, Lowery stated that when he got here, he didn't feel like the team was "committed to anything". That is quite a harsh indictment of the Jaguars front office. Fortunately, in the same statement, he says that the atmosphere has changed since then. Let us hope that this surge of optimism with Mularkey, translates into more wins in the long run. And if it doesn't, let us hope that the new owner doesn't keep a lame duck coach longer than his due.